Shattering Silence

Shattering Silence. . Ralph was a slave from Missouri. In 1834, he bought his freedom from his owner, a man named J. Montgomery, so he could come to Iowa to work in the lead mines near Dubuque. The cost of his independence was to be $550, plus interest. But after five years, Ralph had not earned enough money to make the payments, and two bounty hunters from Virginia offered to seize and return him to Montgomery for $100. Getting the proper paperwork, they seized him and were taking him to a steamship when an Iowa farmer, a man named Alexander Butterworth, learned of the action and went to the local judge, Thomas Wilson. Judge Wilson stopped the men and suggested the matter should be heard by the Supreme Court of the Territory, on which he sat. Iowa's three high court justices heard the case and, on July 4, 1839, ruled in Ralph's favor. In their decision, the justices stated that Ralph should pay his debt but ruled that "no man in this territory can be reduced to slavery" and that Montgomery had lost his right over Ralph in Iowa. The justices wrote "When, in seeking to accomplish his object, [the claimant] illegally restrains a human being of his liberty, it is proper that the laws, which should extend equal protection to men of all colors and conditions, should intervene." The decision, In Re[gards to] the Matter of Ralph, was the very first ruling handed down by the Iowa Supreme Court. It was issued more than seven years before Iowa became a state. It confirmed Iowa's position as a free territory, and it was the first of many High Court rulings that preserved and advanced the causes of freedom, equality and diversity within our borders. In 1847, the Iowa Legislature embraced those causes when it adopted Iowa's motto: "Our Liberties We Prize and Our Rights We Will Maintain.", This sculpture, "Shattering Silence" by Iowa artist James Ellwanger, commemorates those decisions in which the court shattered the silence of inequality and commemorates those Iowans, like Alexander Butterworth, who refused to stand by silently when they saw injustice., Shattering Silence 2009 , Donors , Myron and Jacqueline Blank Fund · David, Liz and Lisa Kruidenier · The Michael Gartner Family · Richard O. Jacobson · Homesteaders Life Company · Prairie Meadows · Polk County · Conoco/Phillips - Ruth Harkin · Des Moines Community Foundation · Jeanne and Richard Levitt · William C. Knapp Charitable Foundation · Ruan Family/Bankers Trust Co. , Townsend Vision Inc. · Charlotte and Fred Hubbell · Patty and Jim Cownie Charitable Fund · Faegre and Benson LLP · The Freedom Forum · Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield · Kemin Industries/Nelson Family · Roxanne Conlin · The Linda Grandquist Family · Mary K. and Daniel M. Kelly Family Foundation · Ray and Joanne Walton